Can anyone tell me what is the reasonable charge to tune a piano? I have a Yamaha U1 piano which I tune twice a year. The piano shop where I bought the piano charged me about$95 to tune the piano. I was wondering whether they have charged me too high. Is it cheaper to have an independent tuner to tune the piano? Does it do any harm to the warranty if I use independent tuner for my piano instead of asking the piano dealer to tune?

-- Philip Leung (ksleung@ctcbny.com), May 02, 2001

Answers

I guess it depends on the area where you live. My mother owns a Yamaha U1 upright, which she recently had tuned by a Guild technician, a man who tuned my piano for years, until I moved out of town. He charged only $45 (for several hours' work because her piano had not been tuned in quite a while) & did a great job.

I live in a different state, but in a city the same size as where my mother lives, with the same cost of living. I own a Yamaha U3 professional upright, which I recently had tuned by a Guild technician; he charged me $85, which is about what the other Guild technicians in town charge.

I would not have an independent tuner do the job because a tuner does not know as much about repairing pianos as a technician does. By going ahead & hiring a Guild technician, if a repair has to be made, he can do it. As for any harm to the warranty, you'll need to call the Yamaha corp. & ask. I doubt that there'd be a problem using someone other than the piano dealer's technician, as long as you hire a licensed technician to do the work. I have this feeling that they might not want you to go to just anyone.

-- Music Educator (noname_poster@yahoo.com), May 02, 2001.